SUPPLEMENT 


TO 


1270  Broadwaiyr,  New  York 

Edited  by  Stanley  W.  Finch 


Vol.  l 


NEW  YORK,  MARCH,  1919 


No.  2 


Two  Sections 


Section  2 


FULL  TEXT 

OF  THE 

CONSTITUTION 

OF 

v 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

ALSO 

President  Wilson’s  Addresses 

at  Paris,  Boston,  and  New  York 


Section  Two  of  The  World’s  Welfare  Magazine  for  March 


Copyrighted  1919,  by  General  Welfare  League  1270  Broadway,  New  York. 


STANLEY  W.  FINCH, 

Editor  of  The  World's  Welfare  Magazine. 

Organizer  and  Late  Chief  of  the  Secret  Service  of  the  Department  of  Justice. 


t’ 


n>.  3  y/. 1 


L  . 

V 


Supplement  to 

The  World’s  Welfare  Magazine 

For  March,  1919 


THE  CONSTITUTION 
OF  THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

As  read  by 

President  Wilson  before  the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris,  France, 

February  14,  1919. 


Preamble 

In  order  to  promote  international  cooperation  and  to  secure 
international  peace  and  security  by  the  acceptance  of  obligations 
not  to  resort  to  war,  by  the  prescription  of  open,  just  and  honor¬ 
able  relations  between  nations,  by  the  firm  establishment  of  the 
understandings  of  international  law  as  the  actual  rule  of  conduct 
among  governments  and  by  the  maintenance  of  justice  and  a 
scrupulous  respect  for  all  treaty  obligations  in  the  dealings  of 
organized  peoples  with  one  another,  the  Powers  signatory  to  this 
covenant  adopt  this  constitution  of  the  League  of  Nations : 

ARTICLE  I. 

The  action  of  the  high  contracting  parties  under  the 
terms  of  this  covenant  shall  be  effected  through  the  instru¬ 
mentality  of  a  meeting  of  a  body  of  delegates  representing 
the  high  contracting  parties,  of  meetings  at  more  frequent 
intervals  of  an  executive  council  and  of  a  permanent  inter¬ 
national  secretariat  to  be  established  at  the  seat  of  the 
league. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Meetings  of  the  body  of  delegates  shall  be  held  at  stated 
intervals  and  from  time  to  time  as  occasion  may  require  for 
the  purpose  of  dealing  with  matters  within  the  sphere  of 
action  of  the  league.  Meetings  of  the  body  of  delegates 
shall  be  held  at  the  seat  of  the  league  or  at  such  other  places 
as  may  be  found  convenient,  and  shall  consist  of  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  high  contracting  parties.  Each  of  the  high 
contracting  parties  shall  have  one  vote,  but  may  have  not 
more  than  three  representatives. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  executive  council  shall  consist  of  representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  British  Empire,  France, 
Italy  and  Japan,  together  with  representatives  of  four  other 
States,  members  of  the  league.  The  selection  of  these  four 
States  shall  be  made  by  the  body  of  delegates  on  such  prin¬ 
ciples  and  in  such  manner  as  they  think  fit.  Pending  the 
appointment  of  these  representatives  of  other  States  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  (blank  left  for  names)  shall  be  members  of 
the  executive  council. 

Meetings  of  the  council  shall  be  held  from  time  to  time 
as  occasion  may  be  required  and  at  least  once  a  year,  at 
whatever  place  may  be  decided  on,  or,  failing  any  such  de¬ 
cision,  at  the  seat  of  the  league,  and  any  matter  within  the 
sphere  of  action  of  the  league  or  affecting  the  peace  of  the 
world  may  be  dealt  with  at  such  meetings. 


Invitations  shall  be  sent  to  any  Power  to  attend  a  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  council  at  which  such  matters  directly  affecting 
its  interests  are  to  be  discussed,  and  no  decision  taken  at 
any  meeting  will  be  binding  on  such  Powers  unless  so 
invited. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

All  matters  of  procedure  at  meetings  of  the  body  of  dele¬ 
gates  or  the  executive  council,  including  the  appointment  of 
committees  to  investigate  particular  matters,  shall  be  regu¬ 
lated  by  the  body  of  delegates  or  the  executive  council, 
and  may  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  States  represented 
at  the  meeting. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  body  of  delegates  and  of  the 
executive  council  shall  be  summoned  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  permanent  secretariat  of  the  league  shall  be  estab¬ 
lished  at - ,  which  shall  constitute  the  seat  of  the  league. 

The  secretariat  shall  comprise  such  secretaries  and  staff 
as  may  be  required,  under  the  general  direction  and  control 
of  a  secretary-general  of  the  league,  who  shall  be  chosen 
by  the  executive  council;  the  secretariat  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  secretary-general  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  ex¬ 
ecutive  council. 

The  secretary-general  shall  act  in  that  capacity  at  all 
meetings  of  the  body  of  delegates  or  of  the  executive 
council. 

The  expenses  of  the  secretariat  shall  be  borne  by  the 
States  members  of  the  league  in  accordance  with  the  ap¬ 
portionment  of  the  expenses  of  the  international  bureau 
of  the  Universal  Postal  Union. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Representatives  of  the  high  contracting  parties  and 
officials  of  the  league  when  engaged  in  the  business  of  the 
league  shall  enjoy  diplomatic  privileges  and  immunities, 
and  the  buildings  occupied  by  the  league  or  its  officials  or 
by  representatives  attending  its  meetings  shall  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  extraterritoriality. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Admission  to  the  league  of  States  not  signatories  to  the 
covenant  and  not  named  in  the  protocol  hereto  as  States 
to  be  invited  to  adhere  to  the  covenant  requires  the  assent  of 
not  less  than  two-thirds  of  the  States  represented  in  the 
body  of  delegates,  and  shall  be  limited  to  fully  self-govern¬ 
ing  countries,  including  dominions  and  colonies. 


4 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


No  state  shall  be  admitted  to  the  league  unless  it  is  able 
to  give  effective  guarantees  of  its  sincere  intention  to  ob¬ 
serve  its  international  obligations  and  unless  it  shall  con¬ 
form  to  such  principles  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  league 
in  regard  to  its  naval  and  military  forces  and  armaments. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  high  contracting  parties  recognize  the  principle  that 
the  maintenance  of  peace  will  require  the  reduction  of  na¬ 
tional  armaments  to  the  lowest  point  consistent  with  national 
safety  and  the  enforcement  by  common  action  of  interna¬ 
tional  obligations,  having  special  regard  to  the  geographical 
situation  and  circumstances  of  each  State,  and  the  executive^ 
council  shall  formulate  plans  for  effecting  such  reduction. 

The  executive  council  shall  also  determine  for  the  consid¬ 
eration  and  action  of  the  several  governments  what  military 
equipment  and  armament  is  fair  and  reasonable  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  scale  of  forces  laid  down  in  the  programme  of 
disarmament,  and  these  limits,  when  adopted,  shall  not  be 
exceeded  without  the  permission  of  the  executive  council. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  the  manufac¬ 
ture  by  private  enterprise  of  munitions  and  implements  of 
war  lends  itself  to  grave  objections,  and  direct  the  execu¬ 
tive  council  to  advise  how  the  evil  effects  attendant  upon 
•uch  manufacture  can  be  prevented,  due  regard  being  had 
to  the  necessities  of  those  countries  which  are  not  able  to 
manufacture  for  themselves  the  munitions  and  implements 
of  war  necessary  for  their  safety. 

The  high  contracting  parties  undertake  in  no  way  to  con¬ 
ceal  from  each  other  the  conditions  of  such  of  their  in¬ 
dustries  as  are  capable  of  being  adapted  to  warlike  purposes 
or  the  scale  of  their  armaments,  and  agree  that  there  shall  be 
full  and  frank  interchange  of  information  as  to  their  mili¬ 
tary  and  naval  programmes. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

A  permanent  commission  shall  be  constituted  to  advise 
the  league  on  the  execution  of  the  provisions  of  Article 
VIII,  and  on  military  and  naval  questions  generally. 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  high  contracting  parties  shall  undertake  to  respect 
and  preserve  as  against  external  aggression  the  territorial 
integrity  and  existing  political  independence  of  all  States 
members  of  the  league.  In  case  of  any  such  aggression  or 
in  case  of  any  threat  or  danger  of  such  aggression  the  ex¬ 
ecutive  council  shall  advise  upon  the  means  by  which  the 
obligation  shall  be  fulfilled. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

Any  war  or  threat  of  war,  whether  immediately  affecting 
any  of  the  high  contracting  parties  or  not,  is  hereby  de¬ 
clared  a  matter  of  concern  to  the  league  and  the  high  con¬ 
tracting  parties  reserve  the  right  to  take  any  action  that 
may  be  deemed  wise  and  effectual  to  safeguard  the  peace 
of  nations. 

It  is  hereby  also  declared  and  agreed  to  be  the  friendly 
right  of  each  of  the  high  contracting  parties  to  draw  the  at¬ 
tention  of  the  body  of  delegates  or  of  the  executive  council 
to  any  circumstance  affecting  international  intercourse 
which  threatens  to  disturb  international  peace  or  the  good 
understanding  between  nations  upon  which  peace  depends. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  should  disputes 
arise  between  them  which  cannot  be  adjusted  by  the  ordinary 
processes  of  diplomacy  they  will  in  no  case  resort  to  war 
without  previously  submitting  the  questions  and  matters 
involved  either  to  arbitration  or  to  inquiry  by  the  executive 
council  and  until  three  months  after  the  award  by  the  ar¬ 
bitrators,  or  a  recommendation  by  the  executive  council, 
and  that  they  will  not  even  then  resort  to  war  as  against  a 


member  of  the  league  which  complies  with  the  award  of 
the  arbitrators  or  the  recommendation  of  the  executive 
council. 

In  any  case  under  this  article  the  award  of  the  arbitra¬ 
tors  shall  be  made  within  a  reasonable  time,  and  the  recom¬ 
mendation  of  the  executive  council  shall  be  made  within  six 
months  after  the  submission  of  the  dispute. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  whenever  any 
dispute  or  difficulty  shall  arise  between  them  which  they 
recognize  to  be  suitable  for  submission  to  arbitration  and 
which  cannot  be  satisfactorily  settled  by  diplomacy  they 
will  submit  the  whole  matter  to  arbitration.  For  this  pur¬ 
pose  the  court  of  arbitration  to  which  the  case  is  referred 
shall  be  the  court  agreed  on  by  the  parties  or  stipulated  in 
any  convention  existing  between  them.  The  high  contract¬ 
ing  parties  agree  that  they  will  carry  out  in  full  good  faith 
any  award  that  may  be  rendered.  In  the  event  of  any  fail¬ 
ure  to  carry  out  the  award  the  executive  council  shall  pro¬ 
pose  what  steps  can  best  be  taken  to  give  effect  thereto. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

The  executive  council  shall  formulate  plans  for  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  a  permanent  court  of  international  justice 
and  this  court  shall,  when  established,  be  competent  to  hear 
and  determine  any  matter  which  the  parties  recognize  as 
suitable  for  submission  to  it  for  arbitration  under  the  fore¬ 
going  article. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

If  there  should  arise  between  States’  members  of  the 
league, any  dispute  likely  to  lead  to  rupture,  which  is  not  sub¬ 
mitted  to  arbitration  as  above,  the  high  contracting  parties 
agree  that  they  will  refer  the  matter  to  the  executive  council; 
either  party  to  the  dispute  may  give  notice  of  the  existence 
of  the  dispute  to  the  Secretary-General,  who  will  make  all 
necessary  arrangements  for  a  full  investigation  and  con¬ 
sideration  thereof.  For  this  purpose  the  parties  agree  to 
communicate  to  the  Secretary-General  as  promptly  as  pos¬ 
sible  statements  of  their  case  with  all  the  relevant  facts  and 
papers,  and  the  executive  council  may  forthwith  direct  the 
publication  thereof.  Where  the  efforts  of  the  council  lead 
to  the  settlement  of  the  dispute  a  statement  shall  be  pub¬ 
lished  indicating  the  nature  of  the  dispute  and  that  of  set¬ 
tlement,  together  with  such  explanations  as  may  be  appro¬ 
priate. 

If  the  dispute  has  not  been  settled  a  report  by  the  coun¬ 
cil  shall  be  published,  setting  forth  with  all  necessary  facts 
and  explanations  the  recommendation  which  the  council 
thinks  just  and  proper  for  the  settlement  of  the  dispute.  If 
the  report  is  unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  members  of  the 
council  other  than  the  parties  to  the  dispute  the  high  con¬ 
tracting  parties  agree  that  they  will  not  go  to  war  with  any 
party  which  complies  with  the  recommendations  and  that,  if 
any  party  shall  refuse  so  to  comply,  the  council  shall  pro¬ 
pose  measures  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the  recommenda¬ 
tions. 

If  no  such  unanimous  report  can  be  made  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  majority  and  the  privilege  of  the  minority  to 
issue  statements  indicating  what  they  believe  to  be  the 
facts  and  containing  the  reasons  which  they  consider  to 
be  just  and  proper. 

The  executive  council  may  in  any  case  under  this  article 
refer  the  dispute  to  the  body  of  delegates.  The  dispute 
shall  be  so  referred  at  the  request  of  either  party  to  the 
dispute,  provided  that  such  request  must  be  made  within 
fourteen  days  after  the  submission  of  the  dispute.  In  a 
case  referred  to  the  body  of  delegates  all  the  provisions  of 
this  article  and  of  Article  XII,  relating  to  the  action  and 
powers  of  the  executive  council  shall  apply  to  the  action 
and  powers  of  the  body  of  delegates. 


\ 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


5 


\ 


ARTICLE  XVI. 

Should  any  of  the  high  contracting  parties  break  or  dis¬ 
regard  its  covenants  under  Article  XII,  it  shall  thereby 
ipso  facto  be  deemed  to  have  committed  an  act  of  war 
against  all  the  other  members  of  the  league,  which  hereby 
undertakes  immediately  to  subject  it  to  the  severance  of 
all  trade  or  financial  relations,  the  prohibition  of  all  inter¬ 
course  between  their  nations  and  the  nationals  of  the  cov¬ 
enant  breaking  State,  and  the  prevention  of  all  financial, 
commercial  or  personal  intercourse  between  the  nationals 
of  the  covenant  breaking  State  and  the  nationals  of  any 
other  State,  whether  a  member  of  the  league  or  not. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  executive  council  in  such 
case  to  recommend  what  effective  military  or  naval  force 
the  members  of  the  league  shall  severally  contribute  to  the 
armed  forces  to  be  used  to  protect  the  covenants  of  the 
league. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  further  that  they 
will  mutually  support  one  another  in  the  financial  and 
economic  measures  which  may  be  taken  under  this  article  in 
order  to  minimize  the  loss  and  inconvenience  resulting  from 
the  above  measures  and  that  they  will  mutually  support  one 
another  in  resisting  any  special  measures  aimed  at  one  of 
their  number  by  the  covenant  breaking  State,  and  that  they 
will  afford  passage  through  their  territory  to  the  forces 
of  any  of  the  high  contracting  parties  who  are  cooperating 
to  protect  the  covenants  of  the  league. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

In  the  event  of  disputes  between  one  State  member  of 
the  league  and  another  State  which  is  not  a  member  of  the 
league,  or  between  States  not  members  of  the  league, 
the  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  the  State  or 
States  not  members  of  the  league  shall  be  invited  to  accept 
the  obligations  of  membership  in  the  league  for  the  purposes 
of  such  dispute  upon  such  conditions  as  the  executive  coun¬ 
cil  may  deem  just,  and  upon  acceptance  of  any  such  invita¬ 
tion  the  above  provisions  shall  be  applied  with  such  modi¬ 
fications  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  by  the  league. 

Upon  such  invitation  being  given  the  executive  council 
shall  immediately  institute  an  inquiry  into  the  circumstances 
and  merits  of  the  dispute  and  recommend  such  action  as 
may  seem  best  and  most  effectual  in  the  circumstances. 

In  the  event  of  a  Power  so  invited  refusing  to  accept  the 
obligations  of  membership  in  the  league  for  the  purposes 
of  the  league  which  in  the  case  of  a  State  member  of  the 
league  would  constitute  a  breach  of  Article  XII,  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  Article  XVI,  shall  be  applicable  as  against  the 
state  taking  such  action. 

If  both  parties  to  the  dispute  when  so  invited  refuse  to 
accept  the  obligations  of  membership  in  the  league  for  the 
purpose  of  such  dispute  the  executive  council  may  take  such 
action  and  make  such  recommendations  as  will  prevent 
hostilities  and  will  result  in  the  settlement  of  the  dispute. 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  the  league  shall 
be  intrusted  with  general  supervision  of  the  trade  in  arms 
and  ammunition  with  the  countries  in  which  the  control 
of  this  traffic  is  necessary  in  the  common  interest. 

ARTICLE  XIX. 

To  those  colonies  and  territories  which  as  a  consequence 
of  the  late  war  have  ceased  to  be  under  the  sovereignty  of 
the  States  which  formerly  governed  them  and  which  are  in¬ 
habited  by  peoples  not  yet  able  to  stand  by  themselves  un¬ 
der  the  strenuous  conditions  of  the  modern  world  there 
should  be  applied  the  principle  that  the  well  being  and 
development  of  such  peoples  form  a  sacred  trust  of  civili¬ 
zation,  and  that  securities  for  the  performance  of  this  trust 
should  be  embodied  in  the  constitution  of  the  league. 


The  best  method  of  giving  practical  effect  to  this  prin¬ 
ciple  is  that  the  tutelage  of  such  peoples  should  be  in¬ 
trusted  to  advanced  nations  who  by  reason  of  their  re¬ 
sources,  their  experience  or  their  geographical  position  can 
best  undertake  this  responsibility,  and  that  this  tutelage 
should  be  exercised  by  them  as  mandatories  on  behalf  of 
the  league. 

The  character  of  the  mandate  must  differ  according  to 

[the  stage  of  the  development  of  the  people,  the  geographical 
situation  of  the  territory,  its  economic  conditions  and  other 
bimilar  circumstances. 

Certain  communities  formerly  belonging  to  the  Turkish 
Empire  have  reached  the  stage  of  development  where  their 
existence  as  independent  nations  can  be  provisionally  recog¬ 
nized  subject  to  the  rendering  of  administrative  advice  and 
assistance  by  a  mandatory  Power  until  such  time  as  they  are 
able  to  stand  alone.  The  wishes  of  these  communities  must 
be  a  principal  consideration  in  the  selection  of  the  manda¬ 
tory  Power. 

Other  peoples,  especially  those  of  central  Africa,  are  at 
such  a  stage  that  the  mandatory  must  be  responsible  for  the 
administration  of  the  territory  subject  to  conditions  which 
will  guarantee  freedom  of  conscience  or  religion,  subject  only 
to  the  maintenance  of  public  order  and  morals,  the  prohibi¬ 
tion  of  abuses  such  as  the  slave  trade,  the  arms  traffic  and  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  the  prevention  of  the  establishment  of 
fortifications  or  military  and  naval  bases  and  of  military 
training  of  the  natives  for  other  than  police  purposes  and 
the  defence  of  territory,  and  will  also  secure  equal  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  the  trade  and  commerce  of  other  members  of 
the  league. 

There  are  territories  such  as  southwest  Africa  and  cer¬ 
tain  of  the  South  Pacific  isles  which,  owing  to  the  sparse¬ 
ness  of  their  populations  or  their  small  size  or  their  remote¬ 
ness  from  the  centers  of  civilization  or  their  geographical 
contiguity  to  the  mandatory  State,  and  other  circumstances, 
can  be  best  administered  under  the  laws  of  the  mandatory 
State  as  integral  portions  thereof,  subject  to  the  safeguards 
above  mentioned  in  the  interests  of  the  indigenous  popu¬ 
lation. 

In  every  case  of  mandate  the  mandatory  State  shall  ren¬ 
der  to  the  league  an  annual  report  in  reference  to  the  terri¬ 
tory  committed  to  its  charge. 

The  degree  of  authority,  control  or  administration  to  be 
exercised  by  the  mandatory  State  shall,  if  not  previously 
agreed  upon  by  the  high  contracting  parties  in  each  case, 
be  explicitly  defined  by  the  executive  council  in  a  special 
act  or  charter. 

The  high  contracting  parties  further  agree  to  establish 
at  the  seat  of  the  league  a  mandatory  commission  to  receive 
and  examine  the  annual  reports  of  the  mandatory  powers, 
and  to  assist  the  league  in  insuring  the  observance  of  the 
terms  of  all  mandates. 

ARTICLE  XX. 

The  high  contracting  parties  will  endeavor  to  secure 
and  maintain  fair  and  humane  conditions  of  labor  for  men, 
women  and  children  both  in  their  own  countries  and  in  all 
countries  to  which  their  commercial  and  industrial  rela¬ 
tions  extend,  and  to  that  end  agree  to  establish  as  part  of 
the  organization  of  the  league  a  permanent  bureau  of  labor. 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  provision  shall 
be  made  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  league  to  se¬ 
cure  and  maintain  freedom  of  transit  and  equitable  treat¬ 
ment  for  the  commerce  of  all  States  members  of  the  league, 
having  in  mind,  among  other  things,  special  arrangements 
with  regard  to  the  necessities  of  the  regions  devastated 
during  the  war  of  1914-1918. 


« 


6 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


ARTICLE  XXII. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  to  place  under  the 
control  of  the  league  all  international  bureaus  already  es¬ 
tablished  by  general  treaties  if  the  parties  to  such  treaties  con¬ 
sent.  Futhermore  they  agree  that  all  such  international 
bureaus  to  be  constituted  in  future  shall  be  placed  under 
control  of  the  league. 

ARTICLE  XXIII. 

The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  every  treaty  or 
international  engagement  entered  into  hereafter  by  any" 
State,  member  of  the  league,  shall  be  forthwith  registered 
with  the  secretary-general  and  as  soon  as  possible  published 
by  him,  and  that  no  such  treaty  or  international  engage¬ 
ment  shall  be  binding  until  so  registered. 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

It  shall  be  the  right  of  the  body  of  delegates  from  time 
to  time  to  advise  the  reconsideration  by  States,  members 
of  the  league,  of  treaties  which  have  become  inapplicable, 


and  of  international  conditions,  of  which  the  continuance 
may  endanger  the  peace  of  the  world. 

ARTICLE  XXV. 

The  high  contracting  parties  severally  agree  that  the 
present  covenant  is  accepted  as  abrogating  all  obligations 
inter  se  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  terms  thereof,  and 
solemnly  engage  that  they  will  not  hereafter  enter  into  any 
engagements  inconsistent  with  the  terms  thereof.  In  case 
any  of  the  Powers  signatory  hereto  or  subsequently  ad¬ 
mitted  to  the  league  shall,  before  becoming  a  party  to  this 
covenant,  have  undertaken  any  obligations  which  are  incon¬ 
sistent  with  the  terms  of  this  covenant,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  such  Power  to  take  immediate  steps  to  procure  its  re¬ 
lease  from  such  obligations. 

ARTICLE  XXVI. 

Amendments  to  this  covenant  will  take  effect  when  rati¬ 
fied  by  the  States  whose  representatives  compose  the  ex¬ 
ecutive  council  and  by  three-fourths  of  the  States  whose 
representatives  compose  the  body  of  delegates. 


President  Wilson’s  Address  at  Paris 

On  February  14,  1919,  Before  the  Peace  Conference,  at  the  Reading 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  League  of  Nations 


“Mr.  Chairman:  I  have  the  honor,  and  assume  it  a  very 
great  privilege,  of  reporting  in  the  name  of  the  commission 
constituted  by  this  conference  on  the  formulation  of  a  plan 
for  the  League  of  Nations.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  it  is  a 
unanimous  report,  a  unanimous  report  from  the  representa¬ 
tives  of  fourteen  nations — the  United  States,  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  Japan,  Belgium,  Brazil,  China,  Czechoslova¬ 
kia,  Greece,  Poland,  Portugal,  Rumania,  and  Serbia. 

“I  think  it  will  be  serviceable  and  interesting  if  I,  with 
your  permission,  read  the  document,  as  the  only  report  we 
have  to  make.” 

President  Wilson  then  read  the  draft.  When  he  reached 
Article  XV,  and  had  read  through  the  second  paragraph,  the 
President  paused  and  said: 

“I  pause  to  point  out  that  a  misconception  might  arise 
in  connection  with  one  of  the  sentences  I  have  just  read — 
‘If  any  party  shall  refuse  to  comply,  the  Council  shall  pro¬ 
pose  measures  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the  recommenda¬ 
tions.’ 

“A  case  in  point,  a  purely  hypothetical  case,  is  this:  Sup¬ 
pose  there  is  in  the  possession  of  a  particular  power  a  piece 
of  territory,  or  some  other  substantial  thing  in  dispute,  to 
which  it  is  claimed  that  it  is  not  entitled.  Suppose  that  the 
matter  is  submitted  to  the  Executive  Council  for  recom¬ 
mendation  as  to  the  settlement  of  the  dispute,  diplomacy 
having  failed,  and  suppose  that  the  decision  is  in  favor  of 
the  party  which  claims  the  subject  matter  of  dispute,  as 
against  the  party  which  has  the  subject  matter  in  dispute. 

“Then,  if  the  party  in  possession  of  the  subject  matter 
in  dispute  merely  sits  still  and  does  nothing,  it  has  accepted 
the  decision  of  the  Council  in  the  sense  that  it  makes  no 
resistance,  but  something  must  be  done  to  see  that  it  sur¬ 
renders  the  subject  matter  in  dispute. 

“In  such  a  case,  the  only  case  contemplated,  it  is  pro¬ 
vided  that  the  Executive  Council  may  then  consider  what 
steps  will  be  necessary  to  oblige  the  party  against  whom 
judgment  has  been  given  to  comply  with  the  decisions  of 
the  Council.” 


CITES  A  CASE  FOR  USE  OF  FORCE. 

After  having  read  Article  XIX,  President  Wilson  also 
stopped  and  said: 

“Let  me  say  that  before  being  embodied  in  this  docu¬ 
ment  this  was  the  subject  matter  of  a  very  careful  discus¬ 
sion  by  representatives  of  the  five  greater  parties,  and  that 
their  unanimous  conclusion  is  the  matter  embodied  in  this 
article.” 

After  having  read  the  entire  document,  President  Wilson 
continued  as  follows: 

“It  gives  me  pleasure  to  add  to  this  formal  reading  of 
the  result  of  our  labors  that  the  character  of  the  discussion 
which  occurred  at  the  sittings  of  the  commission  was  not 
only  of  the  most  constructive  but  of  the  most  encouraging 
sort.  It  was  obvious  throughout  our  discussions  that,  al¬ 
though  there  were  subjects  upon  which  there  were  individ¬ 
ual  differences  of  judgment  with  regard  to  the  method  by 
which  our  objects  should  be  obtained,  there  was  practically 
at  no  point  any  serious  differences  of  opinion  or  motive  as 
to  the  objects  which  we  were  seeking. 

“Indeed,  while  these  debates  were  not  made  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  the  expression  of  enthusiasm  and  sentiment,  I 
think  the  other  members  of  the  commission  will  agree  with 
me  that  there  was  an  undertone  of  high  respect  and  of  en¬ 
thusiasm  for  the  thing  we  were  trying  to  do,  which  was 
heartening  throughout  every  meeting,  because  we  felt  that  in 
a  way  this  conference  did  intrust  unto  us  the  expression  of 
one  of  its  highest  and  most  important  purposes,  to  see  to 
it  that  the  concord  of  the  world  in  the  future  with  regard 
to  the  objects  of  justice  should  not  be  subject  to  doubt  or 
uncertainty,  that  the  co-operation  of  the  great  body  of  na¬ 
tions  should  be  assured  in  the  maintenance  of  peace  upon 
terms  of  honor  and  of  international  obligations. 

“The  compulsion  of  that  task  was  constantly  upon  us, 
and  at  no  point  was  there  shown  the  slightest  desire  to  do 
anything  but  suggest  the  best  means  to  accomplish  that 
great  object.  There  is  very  great  significance,  therefore, 
in  the  fact  that  the  result  was  reached  unanimously. 


i 


7 


THE  WORLD 

UNION  OF  WILLS  THAT  CANNOT  BE  RESISTED. 

“Fourteen  nations  were  represented,  among  them  all  of 
those  powers  which  for  convenience  we  have  called  the 
great  powers,  and  among  the  rest  a  representation  of  the 
greatest  variety  of  circumstances  and  interests.  So  that  I 
think  we  are  justified  in  saying  that  the  significance  of  the 
result,  therefore,  has  the  deepest  of  all  meanings,  the  union 
of  wills  in  a  common  purpose,  a  union  of  wills  which  can¬ 
not  be  resisted,  and  which,  I  dare  say,  no  nation  will  run 
the  risk  of  attempting  to  resist. 

“Now  as  to  the  character  of  the  document.  While  it 
has  consumed  some  time  to  read  this  document,  I  think 
you  will  see  at  once  that  it  is  very  simple,  and  in  nothing  so 
simple  as  in  the  structure  which  it  suggests  for  a  League 
of  Nations — a  body  of  delegates,  an  Executive  Council,  and 
a  permanent  secretariat. 

“When  it  came  to  the  question  of  determining  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  representation  in  the  body  of  delegates,  we  were 
all  aware  of  a  feeling  which  is  current  throughout  the 
world.  Inasmuch  as  I  am  stating  it  in  the  presence  of 
the  official  representatives  of  the  various  Governments  here 
present,  including  myself,  I  may  say  that  there  is  a  universal 
feeling  that  the  world  cannot  rest  satisfied  with  merely 
official  guidance.  There  has  reached  us  through  many  chan¬ 
nels  the  feeling  that  if  the  deliberating  body  of  the  League 
of  Nations  was  merely  to  be  a  body  of  officials  represent¬ 
ing  the  various  Governments,  the  peoples  of  the  world 
would  not  be  sure  that  some  of  the  mistakes  which  pre¬ 
occupied  officials  had  admittedly  made  might  not  be  re¬ 
peated. 

“It  was  impossible  to  conceive  a  method  or  an  assembly 
so  large  and  various  as  to  be  really  representative  of  the 
great  body  of  the  peoples  of  the  world,  because  as  I  roughly 
reckon  it,  we  represent,  as  we  sit  around  this  table,  more 
than  twelve  hundred  million  people.  You  cannot  have  a 
representative  assembly  of  twelve  hundred  million  people, 
but  if  you  leave  it  to  each  Government  to  have,  if  it  pleases, 
one  or  two  or  three  representatives,  though  only  with  a 
single  vote,  it  may  vary  its  representation  from  time  to 
time,  not  only,  but  it  may  [originate]  the  choice  of  its 
several  representatives.  [Wireless  here  unintelligible.] 

“Therefore,  we  thought  that  this  was  a  proper  and  a 
very  prudent  concession  to  the  practically  universal  opinion 
of  plain  men  everywhere  that  they  wanted  the  door  left 
open  to  a  variety  of  representation,  instead  of  being  con¬ 
fined  to  a  single  official  body  with  which  they  could  or 
might  not  find  themselves  in  sympathy. 

PROVISION  FOR  DISCUSSION. 

“And  you  will  notice  that  this  body  has  unlimited  rights 
of  discussion — I  mean  of  discussion  of  anything  that  falls 
within  the  field  of  international  relations — and  that  it  is 
especially  agreed  that  war  or  international  misunderstand¬ 
ings,  or  anything  that  may  lead  to  friction  or  trouble,  is 
everybody’s  business,  because  it  may  affect  the  peace  of 
the  world. 

“And  in  order  to  safeguard  the  popular  power  so  far 
as  we  could  of  this  representative  body,  it  is  provided,  you 
will  notice,  that  when  a  subject  is  submitted,  it  is  not  to 
arbitration,  but  to  discussion  by  the  Executive  Council.  It 
can,  upon  the  initiative  of  either  of  the  parties  to  the  dis¬ 
pute,  be  drawn  out  of  the  Executive  Council  into  the  larger 
forum  of  the  general  body  of  delegates,  because  through 
this  instrument  we  are  depending  primarily  and  chiefly  upon 
one  great  force,  and  this  is  the  moral  force  of  the  public 
opinion  of  the  world — the  pleasing  and  clarifying  and  com¬ 
pelling  influences  of  publicity,  so  that  intrigues  can  no 
longer  have  their  coverts,  so  that  designs  that  are  sinister 
can  at  any  time  be  drawn  into  the  open,  so  that  those  things 
that  are  destroyed  by  the  light  may  be  promptly  destroyed 
by  the  overwhelming  light  of  the  universal  expression  of 
the  condemnation  of  the  world. 


’  S  WELFARE 

“Armed  force  is  in  the  background  in  this  program,  but 
it  is  in  the  background,  and  if  the  moral  force  of  the  world 
will  not  suffice,  the  physical  force  of  the  world  shall.  But 
that  is  the  last  resort,  because  this  is  intended  as  a  consti¬ 
tution  of  peace,  not  as  a  league  of  war. 

“The  simplicity  of  the  document  seems  to  me  to  be  one 
of  its  chief  virtues,  because,  speaking  for  myself,  I  was  un¬ 
able  to  see  the  variety  of  circumstances  with  which  this 
(League  would  have  to  deal.  I  was  unable,  therefore,  to 
j-lan  all  the  machinery  that  might  be  necessary  to  meet  the 
differing  and  unexpected  contingencies.  Therefore,  I  should 
say  of  this  document  that  it  is  not  a  straitjacket,  but  a 
vehicle  of  life. 

A  LIVING  THING  IS  BORN. 

“A  living  thing  is  born,  and  we  must  see  to  it  what 
clothes  we  put  on  it.  It  is  not  a  vehicle  of  power,  but  a 
vehicle  in  which  power  may  be  varied  at  the  discretion 
of  those  who  exercise  it  and  in  accordance  with  the  chang¬ 
ing  circumstances  of  the  time.  And  yet,  while  it  is  elastic, 
while  it  is  general  in  its  terms,  it  is  definite  in  the  one 
thing  that  we  were  called  upon  to  make  definite.  It  is  a 
definite  guarantee  of  peace.  It  is  a  definite  guarantee  by 
word  against  aggression.  It  is  a  definite  guarantee  against 
the  things  \Vhich  have  just  come  near  bringing  the  whole 
structure  of  civilization  into  ruin. 

“Its  purposes  do  not  for  a  moment  lie  vague.  Its  pur¬ 
poses  are  declared,  and  its  powers  are  unmistakable.  It  is 
not  in  contemplation  that  this  should  be  merely  a  league  to 
secure  the  peace  of  the  world.  It  is  a  league  which  can 
be  used  for  co-operation  in  any  international  matter.  That 
is  the  significance  of  the  provision  introduced  concerning 
labor.  There  are  many  ameliorations  of  labor  conditions 
which  can  be  effected  by  conference  and  discussion.  I  an¬ 
ticipate  that  there  will  be  a  very  great  usefulness  in  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  which  it  is  contemplated  shall  be  set  up 
by  the  League.  Men  and  women  and  children  who  work 
have  been  in  the  background  through  long  ages,  and  some¬ 
times  seemed  to  be  forgotten,  while  Governments  have  had 
their  watchful  and  suspicious  eyes  upon  the  manoeuvres 
of  one  another,  while  the  thought  of  statesmen  has  been 
about  structural  action  and  the  larger  transactions  of  com¬ 
merce  and  finance. 

“Now,  if  I  may  believe  the  picture  which  I  see,  there 
comes  into  the  foreground  the  great  body  of  the  laboring 
people  of  the  world,  the  men  and  women  and  children  upon 
whom  the  great  burden  of  sustaining  the  world  must  from 
day  to  day  fall,  whether  we  wish  it  to  do  so  or  not,  people 
who  go  to  bed  tired  and  wake  up  without  the  stimulation  of 
lively  hope.  These  people  will  be  drawn  into  the  field  of 
international  consultation  and  help,  and  will  be  among 
the  wards  of  the  combined  Governments  of  the  world. 
There  is,  I  take  leave  to  say,  a  very  great  step  in  advance 
in  the  mere  conception  of  that. 

“Then,  as  you  will  notice,  there  is  an  imperative  article 
concerning  the  publicity  of  all  international  agreements. 
Henceforth  no  member  of  the  League  can  claim  any  agree¬ 
ment  valid  which  it  has  not  registered  with  the  Secretary- 
General,  in  whose  office,  of  course,  it  will  be  subject  to  the 
examination  of  anybody  representing  a  member  of  the 
League.  And  the  duty  is  laid  upon  the  Secretary-General 
to  publish  every  document  of  that  sort  at  the  earliest  pos¬ 
sible  time. 

“I  suppose  most  persons  who  have  not  been  conversant 
with  the  business  of  foreign  affairs  do  not  realize  how 
many  hundreds  of  these  agreements  are  made  in  a  single 
year,  and  how  difficult  it  might  be  to  publish  the  more  un¬ 
important  of  them  immediately,  how  uninteresting  it  would 
be  to  most  of  the  world  to  publish  them  immediately,  but 
even  they  must  be  published  just  as  soon  as  it  is  possible 
for  the  Secretary-General  to  publish  them. 


8 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


PROTECTION  OF  THE  HELPLESS. 

“Then  there  is  a  feature  about  this  covenant  which,  to 
my  mind,  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  satisfactory  ad¬ 
vances  that  has  been  made.  We  are  done  with  annexations 
of  helpless  peoples,  meant  in  some  instances  by  some  pow¬ 
ers  to  be  used  merely  for  exploitation.  We  recognize  in 
the  most  solemn  manner  that  the  helpless  and  undeveloped 
peoples  of  the  world,  being  in  that  condition,  put  an  obli¬ 
gation  upon  us  to  look  after  their  interests  primarily  be¬ 
fore  we  use  them  for  our  interests,  and  that  in  all  cases 
of  this  sort  hereafter  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Leagued 
to  see  that  the  nations  who  are  assigned  as  the  tutors  and 
advisers  and  directors  of  these  peoples  shall  look  to  their 
interests  and  their  development  before  they  look  to  the  in¬ 
terests  and  desires  of  the  mandatory  nation  itself. 

“There  has  been  no  greater  advance  than  this,  gentlemen. 
If  you  look  back  upon  the  history  of  the  world  you  will  see 
how  helpless  peoples  have  too  often  been  a  prey  to  powers 
that  had  no  conscience  in  the  matter.  It  has  been  one  of 
the  many  distressing  revelations  of  recent  years  that  the 
great  power  which  has  just  been,  happily,  defeated,  put  in¬ 
tolerable  burdens  and  injustices  upon  the  helpless  people 
of  some  of  the  colonies  which  it  annexed  to  itself,  that  its 
interest  was  rather  their  extermination  than  their  develop¬ 
ment,  that  the  desire  was  to  possess  their  land  for  Euro¬ 
pean  purposes  and  not  to  enjoy  their  confidence  in  order 
that  mankind  might  be  lifted  in  these  places  to  the  next 
higher  level. 

“Now,  the  world,  expressing  its  conscience  in  law,  says 
there  is  an  end  of  that,  that  our  consciences  shall  be  settled 
to  this  thing.  States  will  be  picked  out  which  have  already 
shown  that  they  can  exercise  a  conscience  in  this  matter, 
and  under  their  tutelage  the  helpless  peoples  of  the  world 
will  come  into  a  new  light  and  into  a  new  hope. 

A  PRACTICAL  DOCUMENT. 

“So  I  think  I  can  say  of  this  document  that  it  is  at  one 
and  the  same  time  a  practical  document  and  a  human  docu¬ 


ment.  There  is  a  pulse  of  sympathy  in  it.  There  is  a  com¬ 
pulsion  of  conscience  throughout  it.  It  is  practical,  and 
yet  it  is  intended  to  purify,  to  rectify,  to  elevate.  And  I 
want  to  say  that  so  far  as  my  observation  instructs  me, 
this  is  in  one  sense  a  belated  document.  I  believe  that  the 
conscience  of  the  world  has  long  been  prepared  to  express 
itself  in  some  such  way.  We  are  not  just  now  discovering 
our  sympathy  for  these  people  and  our  interest  in  them. 
We  are  simply  expressing  it,  for  it  has  long  been  felt,  and 
in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  more  than  one  of  the 
great  States  represented  here — so  far  as  I  know,  all  of  the 
great  States  that  are  represented  here — that  humane  im¬ 
pulse  has  already  expressed  itself  in  their  dealings  with 
their  colonies,  whose  peoples  were  yet  at  a  low  stage  of 
civilization. 

“We  have  had  many  instances  of  colonies  lifted  into  the 
sphere  of  complete  self-government.  This  is  not  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  a  principle.  It  is  the  universal  application  of  a 
principle.  It  is  the  agreement  of  the  great  nations  which 
have  tried  to  live  by  these  standards  in  their  separate  ad¬ 
ministrations  to  unite  in  seeing  that  their  common  force  and 
their  common  thought  and  intelligence  are  lent  to  this  great 
and  humane  enterprise.  I  think  it  is  an  occasion,  therefore, 
for  the  most  profound  satisfaction  that  this  humane  de¬ 
cision  should  have  been  reached  in  a  matter  for  which  the 
world  has  long  been  waiting  and  until  a  very  recent  period 
thought  that  it  was  still  too  early  to  hope. 

“Many  terrible  things  have  come  out  of  this  war,  gen¬ 
tlemen,  but  some  very  beautiful  things  have  come  out  of  it. 
Wrong  has  been  defeated,  but  the  rest  of  the  world  has 
been  more  conscious  than  it  ever  was  before  of  the  majority 
of  right.  People  that  were  suspicious  of  one  another  can 
now  live  as  friends  and  comrades  in  a  single  family,  and 
desire  to  do  so.  The  miasma  of  distrust,  of  intrigue,  is 
cleared  away.  Men  are  looking  eye  to  eye  and  saying, 
‘We  are  brothers  and  have  a  common  purpose.  We  did  not 
realize  it  before,  but  now  we  do  realize  it,  and  this  is  our 
covenant  of  friendship.’  ”  • 


President  Wilson's  Address  at  Boston 

On  February  24,  1919,  on  the  Subject  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  League  of  Nations 


Governor  Coolidge,  Mr.  Mayor,  Fellow  Citizens:  I  won¬ 
der  if  you  are  half  as  glad  to  see  me  as  I  am  to  see  you.  It 
warms  my  heart  to  see  a  great  body  of  my  fellow  citizens 
again,  because  in  some  respects  during  the  recent  months  I 
have  been  very  lonely  indeed  without  your  comradeship  and 
counsel,  and  I  tried  at  every  step  of  the  work  which  fell 
to  me  to  recall  what  I  was  sure  would  be  your  counsel  with 
regard  to  the  great  matters  which  were  under  considera¬ 
tion. 

I  do  not  want  you  to  think  that  I  have  not  been  ap¬ 
preciative  of  the  extraordinarily  generous  reception  which 
was  given  to  me  on  the  other  side.  In  saying  that  it  makes 
me  very  happy  to  get  home  again  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
I  was  not  very  deeply  touched  by  the  cries  that  came  from 
the  great  crowds  on  the  other  side.  But  I  want  to  say  to 
you  in  all  honesty  that  I  felt  them  to  be  a  call  of  greeting 
to  you  rather  than  to  me. 

I  did  not  feel  that  the  greeting  was  personal.  I  had  in 
my  heart  the  overcrowning  pride  of  being  your  representa¬ 
tive  and  of  receiving  the  plaudits  of  men  everywhere  who 
felt  that  your  hearts  beat  with  theirs  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 


There  was  no  mistaking  the  tone  in  the  voices  of  those 
great  crowds.  It  was  not  a  tone  of  mere  greeting;  it  was 
not  a  tone  of  mere  generous  welcome ;  it  was  the  calling 
of  comrade  to  comrade,  the  cries  that  come  from  men  who 
say  “We  have  waited  for  this  day  when  the  friends  of  liberty 
should  come  across  the  sea  and  shake  hands  with  us,  to  see 
that  a  new  world  was  constructed  upon  a  new  basis  and 
foundation  of  justice  and  right.” 

TRUSTED  THROUGHOUT  WORLD. 

I  can’t  tell  you  the  inspiration  that  came  from  the  senti¬ 
ments  that  come  out  of  those  simple  voices  of  the  crowd, 
and  the  proudest  thing  I  have  to  report  to  you  is  that  this 
great  country  of  ours  is  trusted  throughout  the  world. 

I  have  not  come  to  report  the  proceedings  or  the  results 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Peace  Conference;  that  would 
be  premature.  I  can  say  that  I  have  received  very  happy 
impressions  from  this  conference;  the  impression  that  while 
there  are  many  differences  of  judgment,  while  there  are 
some  divergences  of  object,  there  is  nevertheless  a  common 
spirit  and  a  common  realization  of  the  necessity  of  setting 
up  new  standards  of  right  in  the  world. 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


9 


Because  the  men  who  are  in  conference  in  Paris  realize 
as  keenly  as  any  American  can  realize  that  they  are  not  the 
masters  of  their  people;  that  they  are  the  servants  of  their 
people  and  that  the  spirit  of  their  people  has  awakened  to 
a  new  purpose  and  a  new  conception  of  their  power  to 
realize  that  purpose,  and  that  no  man  dare  go  home  from 
that  conference  and  report  anything  less  noble  than  was  ex¬ 
pected  of  it. 

The  conference  seems  to  you  to  go  slowly;  from  day  to 
day  in  Paris  it  seems  to  go  slowly;  but  I  wonder  if  you 
realize  the  complexity  of  the  task  which  it  has  undertaken. 
It  seems  as  if  the  settlements  of  this  war  affect,  and  affect 
directly,  every  great,  and  I  sometimes  think  every  small, 
nation  in  the  world,  and  no  one  decision  can  prudently 
be  made  which  is  not  properly  linked  in  with  the  great 
series  of  other  decisions  which  must  accompany  it,  and 
it  must  be  reckoned  in  with  the  final  result  if  the  real  qual¬ 
ity  and  character  of  that  result  is  to  be  properly  judged. 

HEARING  THE  WHOLE  CASE. 

What  we  are  doing  is  to  hear  the  whole  case;  hear  it 
from  the  mouths  of  the  men  most  interested;  hear  it  from 
those  who  are  officially  commissioned  to  state  it;  hear  the 
rival  claims;  hear  the  claims  that  affect  new  nationalities, 
that  affect  new  areas  of  the  world,  that  affect  new  commer¬ 
cial  and  economic  connections  that  have  been  established 
by  the  great  world  war  through  which  we  have  gone.  And 
I  have  been  struck  by  the  moderateness  of  those  who  have 
represented  national  claims. 

I  can  testify  that  I  have  nowhere  seen  the  gleam  of 
passion.  I  have  seen  earnestness,  I  have  seen  tears  come 
to  the  eyes  of  men  who  plead  for  downtrodden  people  whom 
they  were  privileged  to  speak  for;  but  they  were  not  the 
tears  of  anguish,  they  were  the  tears  of  ardent  hope. 

And  I  don’t  see  how  any  man  can  fail  to  have  been  sub¬ 
dued  by  these  pleas,  subdued  to  this  feeling,  that  he  was  not 
there  to  assert  an  individual  judgment  of  his  own  but  to  try 
to  assist  the  case  of  humanity. 

And  in  the  midst  of  it  all  every  interest  seeks  out  first 
of  all,  when  it  reaches  Paris,  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States.  Why?  Because,  and  I  think  I  am  stating 
the  most  wonderful  fact  in  history — because  there  is  no 
nation  in  Europe  that  suspects  the  motives  of  the  United 
States. 

Was  there  ever  so  wonderful  a  thing  seen  before?  Was 
there  ever  so  moving  a  thing?  Was  there  ever  any  fact 
that  so  bound  the  nation  that  had  won  that  esteem  forever 
to  deserve  it? 

I  would  not  have  you  understand  that  the  great  men  who 
represent  the  other  nations  there  in  conference  are  dis- 
esteemed  by  those  who  know  them.  Quite  the  contrary.  But 
you  understand  that  the  nations  of  Europe  have  again  and 
again  clashed  with  one  another  in  competitive  interest.  It 
is  impossible  for  men  to  forget  those  sharp  issues  that  were 
drawn  between  them  in  times  past. 

It  is  impossible  for  men  to  believe  that  all  ambitions 
have  all  of  a  sudden  been  foregone.  They  remember  ter¬ 
ritory  that  was  coveted;  they  remember  rights  that  it  was 
attempted  to  extort;  they  remember  political  ambitions 
which  it  was  attempted  to  realize,  and,  while  they  believe 
that  men  have  come  into  a  different  temper  they  cannot  for¬ 
get  these  things,  and  so  they  do  not  resort  to  one  another 
for  a  dispassionate  view  of  the  matters  in  controversy. 
They  resort  to  that  nation  which  has  won  the  enviable  dis¬ 
tinction  of  being  regarded  as  the  friend  of  mankind. 

Whenever  it  is  desired  to  send  a  small  force  of  soldiers 
to  occupy  a  piece  of  territory  where  it  is  thought  nobody 
else  will  be  welcome  they  ask  for  American  soldiers,  and 
where  other  soldiers  would  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion 
and  perhaps  met  with  resistance  the  American  soldier  is 
welcomed  with  acclaim. 


I  have  had  so  many  grounds  for  pride  on  the  other  side 
of  the  water  that  I  am  very  thankful  that  they  are  not 
grounds  for  personal  pride,  but  for  national  pride.  If  they 
were  grounds  for  personal  pride  I’d  be  the  most  stuck  up 
man  in  the  world,  and  it  has  been  an  infinite  pleasure  to 
me  to  see  those  gallant  soldiers  of  ours,  of  whom  the  Con¬ 
stitution  of  the  United  States  made  me  the  proud  com¬ 
mander. 

You  may  be  proud  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Division,  but  I 
commanded  the  Twenty-sixth  Division,  and  see  what  they 
cbd  under  my  direction,  and  everybody  praises  the  Amer¬ 
ican  soldier  with  the  feeling  that  in  praising  him  he  is  sub¬ 
tracting  from  the  credit  of  no  one  else. 

EUROPE’S  BELIEF  IN  AMERICA. 

I  have  been  searching  for  the  fundamental  fact  that 
converted  Europe  to  believe  in  us.  Before  this  war  Europe 
did  not  believe  in  us  as  she  does  now.  She  did  not  believe 
in  us  throughout  the  first  three  years  of  the  war.  She  seems 
really  to  have  believed  that  we  were  holding  off  because 
we  thought  we  could  make  more  by  staying  out  than  by 
going  in.  And  all  of  a  sudden,  in  a  short  eighteen  months, 
the  whole  verdict  is  reversed. 

There  can  be  but  one  explanation  for  it.  They  saw 
what  we  did — that  without  making  a  single  claim  we  put  all 
our  men  and  all  our  means  at  the  disposal  of  those  who  were 
fighting  for  their  homes,  in  the  first  instance,  but  for  a 
cause,  the  cause  of  human  rights  and  justice,  and  that  we 
went  in  not  to  support  their  national  claims  but  to  support 
the  great  cause  which  they  held  in  common. 

And  when  they  saw  that  America  not  only  held  ideals 
but  acted  ideals  they  were  converted  to  America  and  became 
firm  partisans  of  those  ideals. 

I  met  a  group  of  scholars  when  I  was  in  Paris — some 
gentlemen  from  one  of  the  Greek  universities  who  had  come 
to  see  me,  and  in  whose  presence,  or  rather  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  whose  traditions  of  learning,  I  felt  very  young 
indeed.  I  told  them  that  I  had  one  of  the  delightful  re¬ 
venges  that  sometimes  come  to  a  man.  All  my  life  I  had 
heard  men  speak  with  a  sort  of  condescension  of  ideals 
and  of  idealists,  and  particularly  those  separated,  enclois- 
tered  persons  whom  they  choose  to  term  academic,  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  uttering  ideals  in  the  free  atmosphere 
when  they  clash  with  nobody  in  particular. 

PRESIDENT’S  SWEET  REVENGE. 

And  I  said  I  have  had  this  sweet  revenge.  Speaking 
with  perfect  frankness  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  I  have  uttered  as  the  objects  of  this  great 
war  ideals,  and  nothing  but  ideals,  and  the  war  has  been 
won  by  that  inspiration.  Men  were  fighting  with  tense 
muscle  and  lowered  head  until  they  came  to  realize  those 
things,  feeling  they  were  fighting  for  their  lives  and  their 
country,  and  when  these  accents  of  what  it  was  all  about 
reached  them  from  America  they  lifted  their  heads,  they 
raised  their  eyes  to  heaven,  when  they  saw  men  in  khaki 
coming  across  the  sea  in  the  spirit  of  crusaders,  and  they 
found  that  these  were  strange  men,  reckless  of  danger 
not  only,  but  reckless  because  they  seemed  to  see  some¬ 
thing  that  made  that  danger  worth  while. 

Men  have  testified  to  me  in  Europe  that  our  men  were 
possessed  by  something  that  they  could  only  call  a  re¬ 
ligious  fervor.  They  were  not  like  any  of  the  other  sol¬ 
diers.  They  had  a  vision,  they  had  a  dream,  and  they  were 
fighting  in  the  dream,  and  fighting  in  the  dream  they  turned 
the  whole  tide  of  battle  and  it  never  came  back. 

One  of  our  American  humorists,  meeting  the  criticism 
that  American  soldiers  were  not  trained  long  enough,  said: 
“It  takes  only  half  as  long  to  train  an  American  soldier  as 
any  other,  because  you  only  have  to  train  him  one  way  and 
he  did  only  go  one  way,  and  he  never  came  back  until  he 
could  do  it  when  he  pleased.” 


10 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


CONFIDENCE  IMPOSES  BURDEN. 

And  now  do  you  realize  that  this  confidence  we  have 
established  throughout  the  world  imposes  a  burden  upon 
us — if  you  choose  to  call  it  a  burden.  It  is  one  of  those 
burdens  which  any  nation  ought  to  be  proud  to  carry.  Any 
man  who  resists  the  present  tides  that  run  in  the  world  will 
find  himself  thrown  upon  a  shore  so  high  and  barren  that 
it  will  seem  as  if  he  had  been  separated  from  his  human 
kind  forever. 

The  Europe  that  I  left  the  other  day  was  full  of  something 
that  it  had  never  felt  fill  its  heart  so  full  before.  It  was 
full  of  hope.  The  Europe  of  the  second  year  of  the  war, 
the  Europe  of  the  third  year  of  the  war  was  sink¬ 
ing  to  a  sort  of  stubborn  desperation.  They  did 
not  see  any  great  thing  to  be  achieved  even  when  the  war 
should  be  won.  They  hoped  there  would  be  some  salvage ; 
they  hoped  that  they  could  clear  their  territories  of  invading 
armies  they  hoped  they  could  set  up  their  homes  and  start 
their  industries  afresh,  but  they  thought  it  would  simply 
be  the  resumption  of  the  old  life  that  Europe  had  led — led 
in  fear,  led  in  anxiety,  led  in  constant  suspicious  watchful¬ 
ness.  They  never  dreamed  that  it  would  be  a  Europe  of 
settled  peace  and  of  justified  hope. 

BUOYED  UP  WITH  HOPE. 

And  now  these  ideals  have  wrought  this  new  magic, 
that  all  the  peoples  of  Europe  are  buoyed  up  and  confident 
in  the  spirit  of  hope,  because  they  believe  that  we  are  at  the 
eve  of  a  new  age  in  the  world  when  nations  will  understand 
one  another,  when  nations  will  support  one  another  in  every 
just  cause,  when  nations  will  unite  every  moral  and  every 
political  strength  to  see  that  the  right  shall  prevail. 

If  America  were  at  this  juncture  to  fail  the  world,  what 
would  come  of  it?  I  do  not  mean  any  disrespect  to  any  other 
great  people  when  I  say  that  America  is  the  hope  of  the 
world;  and  if  she  does  not  justify  that  hope  the  results  are 
unthinkable.  Men  will  be  thrown  back  upon  the  bitterness 
of  disappointment  not  only  but  the  bitterness  of  despair. 

All  nations  will  be  set  up  as  hostile  camps  again;  the  men 
at  the  peace  conference  will  go  home  with  their  heads  upon 
their  breasts,  knowing  that  they  have  failed — for  they  were 
bidden  not  to  come  home  from  there  until  they  did  some¬ 
thing  more  than  sign  a  treaty  of  peace. 

Suppose  we  sign  the  treaty  of  peace  and  that  it  is  the 
most  satisfactory  treaty  of  peace  that  the  confusing  ele¬ 
ments  of  the  modern  world  will  afford  and  go  home  and 
think  about  our  labors,  we  will  know  that  we  have  left  writ¬ 
ten  upon  the  historic  table  at  Versailles,  upon  which 
Vergennes  and  Benjamin  Franklin  wrote  their  names,  noth¬ 
ing  but  a  modern  scrap  of  paper;  no  nations  united  to  de¬ 
fend  it,  no  great  forces  combined  to  make  it  good,  no  as¬ 
surance  given  to  the  downtrodden  and  fearful  people  of  the 
world  that  they  shall  be  safe.  Any  man  who  thinks  that 
America  will  take  part  in  giving  the  world  any  such  rebuff 
and  disappointment  as  that  does  not  know  America. 

INVITATION  TO  A  TEST. 

I  invite  him  to  test  the  sentiments  of  the  nation.  We 
set  this  up  to  make  men  free  and  we  did  not  confine  our 
conception  and  purpose  to  America,  and  now  we  will  make 
men  free.  If  we  did  not  do  that  the  fame  of  America  would 
be  gone  and  all  her  powers  would  be  dissipated.  She  then 
would  have  to  keep  her  power  for  those  narrow,  selfish, 
provincial  purposes  which  seem  so  dear  to  some  minds  that 
have  no  sweep  beyond  the  nearest  horizon. 

I  should  welcome  no  sweeter  challenge  than  that.  I 
have  fighting  blood  in  me,  and  it  is  sometimes  a  delight  to 
let  it  have  scope,  but  if  it  is  a  challenge  on  this  occasion 
it  will  be  an  indulgence.  Think  of  the  picture,  think  of  the 
utter  blackness  that  would  fall  on  the  world.  America  has 
failed!  America  made  a  little  essay  at  generosity  and  then 


withdrew.  America  said:  “We  are  your  friends,”  but  it 
was  only  for  today,  not  for  tomorrow.  America  said: 
“Here  is  our  power  to  vindicate  right,”  and  then  the  next 
day  said:  “Let  right  take  care  of  itself  and  we  will  take 
care  of  ourselves.”  America  said:  “We  set  up  a  fight  to 
lead  men  along  the  paths  of  liberty,  but  we  have  lowered 
it;  it  is  intended  only  to  light  our  own  path.”  We  set  up 
a  great  ideal  of  liberty  and  then  we  said:  “Liberty  is  a  thing 
that  you  must  win  for  yourself.  Do  not  call  upon  us,”  and 
think  of  the  world  that  we  would  leave.  Do  you  realize  how 
many  new  nations  are  going  to  be  set  up  in  the  presence 
of  old  and  powerful  nations  in  Europe  and  left  there,  if 
left  by  us,  without  a  disinterested  friend? 

POLAND  AND  ARMENIA. 

Do  you  believe  in  the  Polish  cause,  as  I  do?  Are  you 
going  to  set  up  Poland,  immature,  inexperienced,  as  yet  un¬ 
organized,  and  leave  her  with  a  circle  of  armies  around  her? 
Do  you  believe  in  the  aspiration  of  the  Czecho-Slovaks 
and  the  Jugo-Slavs  as  I  do?  Do  you  know  how  many  Pow¬ 
ers  would  be  quick  to  pounce  upon  them  if  there  were  not 
the  guarantees  of  the  world  behind  their  liberty? 

Have  you  thought  of  the  sufferings  of  Armenia?  You 
poured  out  your  money  to  help  succor  the  Armenians  after 
they  suffered;  now  set  your  strength  so  that  they  shall 
never  suffer  again. 

The  arrangements  of  the  present  peace  cannot  stand  a 
generation  unless  they  are  guaranteed  by  the  united  forces 
of  the  civilized  world.  And  if  we  do  not  guarantee  them 
cannot  you  not  see  the  picture?  Your  hearts  have  in¬ 
structed  you  where  the  burden  of  this  war  fell.  It  did  not 
fall  upon  the  national  treasuries,  it  did  not  fall  upon  the 
instruments  of  administration,  it  did  not  fall  upon  the  re¬ 
sources  of  the  nation.  It  fell  upon  the  victims’  homes 
everywhere,  where  women  were  toiling  in  hope  that  their 
men  would  come  back. 

When  I  think  of  the  homes  upon  which  dull  despair 
would  settle  were  this  great  hope  disappointed,  I  should 
wish  for  my  part  never  to  have  had  America  play  any  part 
whatever  in  this  attempt  to  emancipate  the  world.  But  I 
talk  as  if  there  were  any  question.  I  have  no  more  doubt 
of  the  verdict  of  America  in  this  matter  than  I  have  doubt 
of  the  blood  that  is  in  me. 

NO  STOPPING  SHORT  OF  GOAL. 

And  so,  my  fellow  citizens,  I  have  come  back  to  report 
progress,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  progress  is  going  to 
stop  short  of  the  goal.  The  nations  of  the  world  have  set 
their  heads  now  to  do  a  great  thing,  and  they  are  not  go¬ 
ing  to  slacken  their  purpose.  And  when  I  speak  of  the  na¬ 
tions  of  the  world  I  do  not  speak  of  the  governments  of  the 
world.  I  speak  of  the  peoples  who  constitute  the  nations  of 
the  world.  They  are  in  the  saddle,  and  they  are  going  to  see 
to  it  that  if  their  present  governments  do  not  do  their  will 
some  other  governments  shall,  and  the  secret  is  out  and 
the  present  governments  know  it. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  harmony  to  be  got  out  of  com¬ 
mon  knowledge.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  to  be 
got  of  living  in  the  same  atmosphere  and  except  for  the 
differences  of  languages,  which  puzzled  my  American  ear 
very  sadly,  I  could  have  believed  I  was  at  home  in  France 
or  in  Italy  or  in  England  when  I  was  on  the  streets,  when 
I  was  in  the  presence  of  the  crowds,  when  I  was  in  great 
halls  where  men  were  gathered  together  irrespective  of 
class. 

I  did  not  feel  quite  as  much  at  home  there  as  I  do  here, 
but  I  felt  that  now,  at  any  rate,  after  this  storm  of  war  had 
cleared  the  air,  men  were  seeing  eye  to  eye  everywhere  and 
that  these  were  the  kind  of  folks  who  would  understand 
what  the  kind  of  folks  at  home  would  understand  and  that 
they  were  thinking  the  same  things. 


11 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


I  feel  about  you  as  I  am  reminded  of  a  story  of  that 
excellent  witness  and  good  artist,  Oliver  Herford,  who 
one  day,  sitting  at  luncheon  at  his  club  was  slapped  vig¬ 
orously  on  the  back  by  a  man  whom  he  did  not  know  very 
well.  He  said:  “Oliver,  old  boy,  how  are  you?”  He  looked 
at  him  rather  coldly.  He  said,  “I  don’t  know  your  name, 
I  don’t  know  your  face,  but  your  manners  are  very  fa¬ 
miliar.”  And  I  must  say  that  your  manners  are  very 
familiar,  and  let  me  add,  very  delightful. 

FORCE  OF  AN  IDEA. 

It  is  a  great  comfort  for  one  thing  to  realize  that  you 
all  understand  the  language  I  am  speaking.  A  friend  of 
mine  said  that  to  talk  through  an  interpreter  was  like  wit¬ 
nessing  the  compound  fracture  of  an  idea.  But  the  beauty 
of  it  is  that,  whatever  the  impediments  of  the  channel  of 
communication  the  idea  is  the  same,  that  it  gets  registered, 


and  it  gets  registered  in  responsive  hearts  and  receptive 
purposes. 

I  have  come  back  for  a  strenuous  attempt  to  transact 
business  for  a  little  while  in  America  but  I  have  really  come 
back  to  say  to  you,  in  all  soberness  and  honesty,  that  I 
have  been  trying  my  best  to  speak  your  thoughts. 

When  I  sample  myself  I  think  I  find  that  I  am  a  typical 
American,  and  if  I  sample  deep  enough  and  get  down  to 
what  is  probably  the  true  stuff  of  a  man,  then  I  have  hope 
that  it  is  part  of  the  stuff  that  is  like  the  other  fellow’s  at 
htjme. 

I  And,  therefore,  probing  deep  in  my  heart  and  trying  to 
sJe  the  things  that  are  right  without  regard  to  the  things 
tMat  may  be  debated  as  expedient,  I  feel  that  I  am  inter¬ 
preting  the  purpose  and  the  thought  of  America;  and  in 
loving  America  I  find  I  have  joined  the  great  majority  of 
my  fellowmen  throughout  the  world. 


President  Wilson’s  Address  at  New  York 

On  March  4,  1919,  in  Further  Explanation  of 
the  League  of  Nations 


My  Fellow-Citizens:  I  accept  the  intimation  of  the  air 
just  played;  I  will  not  come  back  “till  it’s  over,  over  there.” 
And  yet  I  pray  God,  in  the  interests  of  peace  and  of  the 
world,  that  that  may  be  soon. 

The  first  thing  that  I  am  going  to  tell  the  people  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water  is  that  an  overwhelming  majority  of 
the  American  people  is  in  favor  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

I  know  that  that  is  true ;  I  have  had  unmistakable  intima¬ 
tions  of  it  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  voice 
rings  true  in  every  case.  I  account  myself  fortunate  to 
speak  here  under  the  unusual  circumstances  of  this  evening. 

I  am  happy  to  associate  myself  with  Mr.  Taft  in  this  great 
cause.  He  has  displayed  an  elevation  of  view  and  a  de¬ 
votion  to  public  duty  which  is  beyond  praise. 

And  I  am  the  more  happy  because  this  means  that  this  is 
not  a  party  issue.  No  party  has  the  right  to  appropriate 
this  issue,  and  no  party  will  in  the  long  run  dare  oppose  it. 

We  have  listened  to  so  clear  and  admirable  an  exposition 
of  many  of  the  main  features  of  the  proposed  covenant  of 
the  League  of  Nations  that  it  is  perhaps  not  necessary  for 
me  to  discuss  in  any  particular  way  the  contents  of  the 
document.  I  will  seek  rather  to  give  you  its  setting.  I 
do  not  know  when  I  have  been  more  impressed  than  by 
the  conferences  of  the  commission  set  up  by  the  Con¬ 
ference  of  Peace  to  draw  up  a  covenant  for  the  League 
of  Nations.  The  representatives  of  fourteen  nations  sat 
around  that  board — not  young  men,  not  men  inexperienced 
in  the  affairs  of  their  own  countries,  not  men  inexperienced 
in  the  politics  of  the  world;  and  the  inspiring  influence  of 
every  meeting  was  the  concurrence  of  purpose  on  the  part 
of  all  those  men  to  come  to  an  agreement  and  an  effective 
working  agreement  with  regard  to  this  League  of  the  civ¬ 
ilized  world. 

There  was  a  conviction  in  the  whole  impulse;  there  was 
conviction  of  more  than  one  sort;  there  was  the  conviction 
that  this  thing  ought  to  be  done,  and  there  was  also  the  con¬ 
viction  that  not  a  man  there  would  venture  to  go  home  and 
say  that  he  had  not  tried  to  do  it. 

NEED  TO  WATCH  INTRIGUE. 

Mr.  Taft  has  set  the  picture  for  you  of  what  a  failure 
of  this  great  purpose  would  mean.  We  have  been  hearing 


for  all  these  weary  months  that  this  agony  of  war  has  lasted 
of  the  sinister  purpose  of  the  Central  Empires,  and  we 
have  made  maps  of  the  course  that  they  meant  their  con¬ 
quests  to  take.  Where  did  the  lines  of  that  map  lie,  of 
that  central  line  that  we  used  to  call  from  Bremen  to 
Bagdad?  They  lay  through  these  very  regions  to  which 
Mr.  Taft  has  called  your  attention,  but  they  lay  then 
through  a  united  empire,  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire, 
whose  integrity  Germany  was  bound  to  respect,  as  her  ally 
lay  in  the  path  of  that  line  of  conquest;  the  Turkish  Em¬ 
pire,  whose  interests  she  professed  to  make  her 
own,  lay  in  the  direct  path  that  she  intended  to  tread.  And 
now  what  has  happened?  The  Austro-Hungarian  Empire 
has  gone  to  pieces  and  the  Turkish  Empire  has  disappeared, 
and  the  nations  that  effected  that  great  result — for  it  was  a 
result  of  liberation — are  now  responsible  as  the  trustees  of 
the  assets  of  those  great  nations.  You  not  only  would  have 
weak  nations  lying  in  this  path,  but  you  would  have  nations 
in  which  that  old  poisonous  seed  of  intrigue  could  be 
planted  with  the  certainty  that  the  crop  would  be  abundant; 
and  one  of  the  things  that  the  League  of  Nations  is  intended 
to  watch  is  the  course  of  intrigue.  Intrigue  cannot  stand 
publicity,  and  if  the  League  of  Nations  were  nothing  but  a 
great  debating  society  it  would  kill  intrigue. 

It  is  one  of  the  agreements  of  this  covenant  that  it  is  the 
friendly  right  of  every  nation  a  member  of  the  League  to 
call  attention  to  anything  that  it  thinks  will  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  world,  no  matter  where  that  thing  is  occurring. 
There  is  no  subject  that  may  touch  the  peace  of  the  world 
which  is  exempt  from  inquiry  and  discussion,  and  I  think 
everybody  here  present  will  agree  with  me  that  Germany 
would  never  have  gone  to  war  if  she  had  permitted  the 
world  to  discuss  the  aggression  upon  Serbia  for  a  single 
week.  The  British  Foreign  Office  suggested,  it  pleaded, 
that  there  might  be  a  day  or  two  delay  so  that  the  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  nations  of  Europe  could  get  together  and 
discuss  the  possibilities  of  a  settlement.  Germany  did  not 
dare  permit  a  day’s  discussion.  You  know  what  happened. 
So  soon  as  the  world  realized  that  an  outlaw  was  at  large, 
the  nations  began  one  by  one  to  draw  together  against  her. 
We  know  for  a  certainty  that  if  Germany  had  thought  for 
a  moment  that  Great  Britain  would  go  in  with  France  and 


12 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


with  Russia  she  never  would  have  undertaken  the  enter¬ 
prise,  and  the  League  of  Nations  is  meant  as  a  notice  to  all 
outlaw  nations  that  not  only  Great  Britain,  but  the  United 
States  and  the  rest  of  the  world  will  go  in  to  stop  enter¬ 
prises  of  that  sort.  And  so  the  League  of  Nations  is  noth¬ 
ing  more  nor  less  than  the  covenant  that  the  world  will  al¬ 
ways  maintain  the  standards  which  it  has  now  vindicated 
by  some  of  the  most  precious  blood  ever  spilled. 

The  liberated  peoples  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Em¬ 
pire  and  of  the  Turkish  Empire  call  out  to  us  for  this  thing. 
It  has  not  arisen  in  the  council  of  statesmen.  Europe  is  a 
bit  sick  at  heart  at  this  very  moment,  because  it  sees  that 
statesmen  have  had  no  vision,  and  that  the  only  vision  has 
been  the  vision  of  the  people.  Those  who  suffer  see.  Tho;e 
against  whom  wrong  is  wrought  know  how  desirable  is  the 
right  and  the  righteous.  The  nations  that  have  long  been 
under  the  heel  of  the  Austrian,  that  have  long  cowered  be¬ 
fore  the  German,  that  have  long  suffered  the  indescribable 
agonies  of  being  governed  by  the  Turk,  have  called  out  to 
the  world,  generation  after  generation,  for  justice,  for 
liberation,  for  succor;  and  no  Cabinet  in  the  world  has 
heard  them.  Private  organizations,  pitying  hearts,  philan¬ 
thropic  men  and  women  have  poured  out  their  treasure  in 
order  to  relieve  these  sufferings;  but  no  nation  has  said  to 
the  nations  responsible,  “You  must  stop;  this  thing  is 
intolerable,  and  we  will  not  permit  it.”  And  the  vision  has 
been  with  the  people.  My  friends,  I  wish  you  would  reflect 
upon  this  proposition;  the  vision  as  to  what  is  necessary  for 
great  reforms  has  seldom  come  from  the  top  in  the  nations 
of  the  world.  It  has  come  from  the  need  and  the  aspiration 
and  the  self-assertion  of  great  bodies  of  men  who  meant  to 
be  free.  And  I  can  explain  some  of  the  criticisms  which 
have  been  leveled  against  this  great  enterprise  only  by  the 
supposition  that  the  men  who  utter  the  criticisms  have 
never  felt  the  great  pulse  of  the  heart  of  the  world. 

AMAZED  AT  IGNORANCE  OF  OPPONENTS. 

And  I  am  amazed — not  alarmed,  but  amazed — that  there 
should  be  in  some  quarters  such  a  comprehensive  ignorance 
of  the  state  of  the  world.  These  gentlemen  do  not  know 
what  the  mind  of  men  is  just  now.  Everybody  else  does. 
I  do  not  know  where  they  have  been  closeted,  I  do  not 
know  by  what  influence  they  have  been  blinded;  but  I  do 
know  that  they  have  been  separated  from  the  general  cur¬ 
rents  of  the  thought  of  mankind. 

And  I  want  to  utter  this  solemn  warning,  not  in  the  way 
of  a  threat;  the  forces  of  the  world  do  not  threaten,  they 
operate.  The  great  tides  of  the  world  do  not  give  notice 
that  they  are  going  to  rise  and  run;  they  rise  in  their  maj¬ 
esty  and  overwhelming  might,  and  those  who  stand  in  the 
way  are  overwhelmed.  Now  the  heart  of  the  world  is 
awake,  and  the  heart  of  the  world  must  be  satisfied.  Do 
not  let  yourselves  suppose  for  a  moment  that  the  uneasiness 
in  the  populations  of  Europe  is  due  entirely  to  economic 
causes  or  economic  motives;  something  very  much  deeper 
underlies  it  all  than  that.  They  see  that  their  Governments 
have  never  been  able  to  defend  them  against  intrigue  or  ag¬ 
gression,  and  that  there  is  no  force  of  foresight  or  of 
prudence  in  any  modern  Cabinet  to  stop  war.  And  therefore 
they  say,  “There  must  be  some  fundamental  cause  for 
this,”  and  the  fundamental  cause  they  are  beginning  to  per¬ 
ceive  to  be  that  nations  have  stood  singly  or  in  little  jealous 
groups  against  each  other,  fostering  prejudice,  increasing 
the  danger  of  war  rather  than  concerting  measures  to  pre¬ 
vent  it;  and  that  if  there  is  right  in  the  world,  if  there  is 
justice  in  the  world,  there  is  no  reason  why  nations  should 
be  divided  in  the  support  of  justice. 

They  are  therefore  saying  if  you  really  believe  that  there 
is  a  right,  if  you  really  believe  that  wars  ought  to  be 
stopped,  stop  thinking  about  the  rival  interests  of  nations, 
and  think  about  men  and  women  and  children  throughout 


the  world.  Nations  are  not  made  to  afford  distinction  to 
their  rulers  by  way  of  success  in  the  manoeuvres  of  politics; 
nations  are  meant,  if  they  are  meant  for  anything,  to  make 
the  men  and  women  and  children  in  them  secure  and  happy 
and  prosperous,  and  no  nation  has  the  right  to  set  up  its 
special  interests  against  the  interests  and  benefits  of  man¬ 
kind,  least  of  all  this  great  nation  which  we  love.  It  was 
set  up  for  the  benefit  of  mankind;  it  was  set  up  to  illustrate 
the  highest  ideals  and  to  achieve  the  highest  aspirations  of 
men  who  wanted  to  be  free;  and  the  world — the  world  of 
today — believes  that  and  counts  on  us,  and  would  be  thrown 
back  into  the  blackness  of  despair  if  we  deserted  it. 

I  have  tried  once  and  again,  my  fellow-citizens,  to  say 
to  little  circles  of  friends  or  to  larger  bodies  what  seems 
to  be  the  real  hope  of  the  peoples  of  Europe,  and  I  tell  you 
frankly  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  so  because  when  the 
thought  tries  to  crowd  itself  into  speech  the  profound 
emotion  of  the  thing  is  too  much;  speech  will  not  carry.  I 
have  felt  the  tragedy  of  the  hope  of  those  suffering  peoples. 

It  is  tragedy  because  it  is  a  hope  which  cannot  be  real¬ 
ized  in  its  perfection,  and  yet  I  have  felt  besides  its  trag¬ 
edy,  its  compulsion — its  compulsion  upon  every  living  man 
to  exercise  every  influence  that  he  has  to  the  utmost  to  see 
that  as  little  as  possible  of  that  hope  is  disappointed,  be¬ 
cause  if  men  cannot  now,  after  this  agony  of  bloody  sweat, 
come  to  their  self-possession  and  see  how  to  regulate  the 
affairs  of  the  world,  we  will  sink  back  into  a  period  of 
struggle  in  which  there  will  be  no  hope,  and,  therefore,  no 
mercy.  There  can  be  no  mercy  where  there  is  no  hope,  for 
why  should  you  spare  another  if  you  yourself  expect  to 
perish?  Why  should  you  be  pitiful  if  you  can  get  no 
pity?  Why  should  you  be  just  if,  upon  every  hand,  you  are 
put  upon? 

CRITICS  IGNORE  SOLDIERS’  SPIRIT. 


There  is  another  thing  which  I  think  the  critics  of  this 
covenant  have  not  observed.  They  not  only  have  not  ob¬ 
served  the  temper  of  the  world,  but  they  have  not  even  ob¬ 
served  the  temper  of  those  splendid  boys  in  khaki  that  they 
sent  across  the  seas.  I  have  had  the  proud  consciousness  of 
the  reflected  glory  of  those  boys,  because  the  Constitution 
made  me  their  Commander-in-Chief,  and  they  have  taught 
me  some  lessons.  When  we  went  into  the  war,  we  went 
into  it  on  the  basis  of  declarations  which  it  was  my  privi¬ 
lege  to  utter,  because  I  believed  them  to  be  an  interpreta¬ 
tion  of  the  purpose  and  thought  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  And  those  boys  went  over  there  with  the  feeling 
that  they  were  sacredly  bound  to  the  realization  of  those 
ideals;  that  they  were  not  only  going  over  there  to  beat 
Germany;  they  were  not  going  over  there  merely  with  re¬ 
sentment  in  their  hearts  against  a  particular  outlaw  nation; 
but  that  they  were  crossing  those  three  thousand  miles  of 
sea  in  order  to  show  to  Europe  that  the  United  States,  when 
it  became  necessary,  would  go  anywhere  where  the  rights 
of  mankind  were  threatened.  They  would  not  sit  still  in 
the  trenches.  They  would  not  be  restrained  by  the  pru¬ 
dence  of  experienced  continental  commanders.  They  thought 
they  had  come  over  there  to  do  a  particular  thing,  and  they 
were  going  to  do  it  and  do  it  at  once.  And  just  as 
soon  as  that  rush  of  spirit  as  well  as  rush  of  body  came  in 
contact  with  the  lines  of  the  enemy,  they  began  to  break, 
and  they  continued  to  break  until  the  end.  They  continued 
to  break,  my  fellow-citizens,  not  merely  because  of  the 
physical  force  of  those  lusty  youngsters,  but  because  of  the 
irresistible  spiritual  force  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  that  they  felt.  It  was  that  that  awed  them. 
It  was  that  that  made  them  feel,  if  these  youngsters  ever  got 
a  foothold,  they  could  never  be  dislodged,  and  that  therefore 
every  foot  of  ground  that  they  won  was  permanently  won 
for  the  liberty  of  mankind.  / 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


13 


And  do  you  suppose  that  having  felt  that  crusading  spirit 
of  these  youngsters,  who  went  over  there  not  to  glorify 
America  but  to  serve  their  fellow  men,  I  am  going  to  per¬ 
mit  myself  for  one  moment  to  slacken  in  my  effort  to  be 
worthy  of  them  and  of  their  cause?  What  I  said  at  the 
opening  I  said  with  a  deeper  meaning  than  perhaps  you 
have  caught;  I  do  mean  not  to  come  back  until  it’s  over 
over  there,  and  it  must  not  be  over  until  the  nations  of  the 
world  are  assured  of  the  permanency  of  peace. 

Gentlemen  on  this  side  of  the  water  would  be  very  much 
profited  by  getting  into  communication  with  some  gentlemen 
on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  We  sometimes  think,  my 
fellow  citizens,  that  the  experienced  statesmen  of  the  Euro¬ 
pean  nations  are  an  unusually  hard-headed  set  of  men,  by 
which  we  generally  mean,  although  we  do  not  admit  it, 
that  they  are  a  bit  cynical,  that  they  say  “This  is  a  very 
practical  world,”  by  which  you  always  mean  that  it  is  not 
an  ideal  world;  that  they  do  not  believe  that  things  can  be 
settled  upon  an  ideal  basis.  Well,  I  never  came  into  inti¬ 
mate  contact  with  them  before,  but  if  they  used  to  be  that 
way,  they  are  not  that  way  now.  They  have  been  subdued, 
if  that  was  once  their  temper,  by  the  awful  significance  of 
recent  events  and  the  awful  importance  of  what  is  to  en¬ 
sue;  and  there  is  not  one  of  them  with  whom  I  have  come 
in  contact  who  does  not  feel  that  he  cannot  in  conscience 
return  to  his  people  from  Paris  unless  he  has  done  his  ut¬ 
most  to  do  something  more  than  attach  his  name  to  a  treaty 
of  peace.  Every  man  in  that  Conference  knows  that  the 
treaty  of  peace  in  itself  will  be  inoperative,  as  Mr.  Taft 
has  said,  without  this  constant  support  and  energy  of  a 
great  organization  such  as  is  supplied  by  the  League  of 
Nations. 

And  men  who  when  I  first  went  over  there  were  skeptical 
of  the  possibility  of  forming  a  League  of  Nations  admitted 
that  if  we  could  but  form  it  it  would  be  an  invaluable  in¬ 
strumentality  through  which  to  secure  the  operation  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  treaty;  and  when  that  treaty  comes 
back,  gentlemen  on  this  side  will  find  the  covenant  not 
only  in  it,  but  so  many  threads  of  the  treaty  tied  to  the 
covenant  that  you  cannot  dissect  the  covenant  from  the 
treaty  without  destroying  the  whole  vital  structure.  The 
structure  of  peace  will  not  be  vital  without  the  League  of 
Nations,  and  no  man  is  going  to  bring  back  a  cadaver  with 
him. 

PUZZLED  BY  SOME  CRITICISMS. 

I  must  say  that  I  have  been  puzzled  by  some  of  the  criti¬ 
cisms — not  by  the  criticisms  themselves;  I  can  understand 
them  perfectly,  even  when  there  was  no  foundation  for 
them;  but  by  the  fact  of  the  criticism.  I  cannot  imagine 
how  these  gentlemen  can  live  and  not  live  in  the  atmos¬ 
phere  of  the  world.  I  cannot  imagine  how  they  can  live  and 
not  be  in  contact  with  the  events  of  their  times,  and  I  par¬ 
ticularly  cannot  imagine  how  they  can  be  Americans  and 
set  up  a  doctrine  of  careful  selfishness,  thought  out  to  the 
last  detail.  I  have  heard  no  counsel  of  generosity  in  their 
criticism.  I  have  heard  no  constructive  suggestion.  I  have 
heard  nothing  except  “will  it  not  be  dangerous  to  us  to  help 
the  world?”  It  would  be  fatal  to  us  not  to  help  it. 

From  being  what  I  will  venture  to  call  the  most  famous 
and  the  most  powerful  nation  in  the  world  we  would  of  a 
sudden  have  become  the  most  contemptible.  So,  I  did  not 
need  to  be  told,  as  I  have  been  told,  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  would  support  this  covenant.  I  am  an  Amer¬ 
ican  and  I  knew  they  would.  What  a  sweet  revenge  it  is 
upon  the  world.  They  laughed  at  us  once,  they  thought 
we  did  not  mean  our  professions  of  principle.  They  thought 
so  until  April  of  1917.  It  was  hardly  credible  to  them  that 
we  would  do  more  than  send  a  few  men  over  and  go  through 
the  forms  of  helping,  and  when  they  saw  multitudes  hasten¬ 
ing  across  the  sea,  and  saw  what  those  multitudes  were 
eager  to  do  when  they  got  to  the  other  side,  they  stood  at 


amaze  and  said:  “The  thing  is  real,  this  nation  is  the  friend 
of  mankind  as  it  said  it  was.”  The  enthusiasm,  the  hope, 
the  trust,  the  confidence  in  the  future  bred  by  that  change 
of  view  are  indescribable.  Take  an  individual  American 
and  you  may  often  find  him  selfish,  and  confined  to  his 
special  interests;  but  take  the  American  in  the  mass  and 
he  is  willing  to  die  for  an  idea.  The  sweet  revenge,  there¬ 
fore,  is  this,  that  we  believed  in  righteousness,  and  now  we 
are  ready  to  make  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  it,  the  supreme 
sacrifice  of  throwing  in  our  fortunes  with  the  fortunes  of 
men  everywhere.  Mr.  Taft  was  speaking  of  Washington’s 
utterance  about  entangling  alliances,  and  if  he  will  permit 
mje  to  say  so,  he  put  the  exactly  right  interpretation  upon 
What  Washington  said,  the  interpretation  that  is  inevitable 
if  you  read  what  he  said,  as  most  of  these  gentlemen  do 
not.  And  the  thing  that  he  longed  for  was  just  what  we  are 
now  about  to  supply ;  an  arrangement  which  will  disentangle 
all  the  alliances  in  the  world. 

SEES  ALL  ALLIANCES  DISENTANGLED. 

Nothing  entangles,  nothing  enmeshes  a  man  except  a 
selfish  combination  with  somebody  else.  Nothing  entangles 
a  nation,  hampers  it,  binds  it,  except  to  enter  into  a  combi¬ 
nation  with  some  other  nation  against  the  other  nations  of 
the  world.  And  this  great  disentanglement  of  all  alliances 
is  now  to  be  accomplished  by  this  covenant,  because  one 
of  the  covenants  is  that  no  nation  shall  enter  into  any  re¬ 
lationship  with  another  nation  inconsistent  with  the  coven¬ 
ants  of  the  League  of  Nations.  Nations  promise  not  to 
have  alliances.  Nations  promise  not  to  make  combinations 
against  each  other.  Nations  agree  that  there  shall  be  but 
one  combination,  and  that  is  the  combination  of  all  against 
the  wrongdoer. 

And  so  I  am  going  back  to  my  task  on  the  other  side  with 
renewed  vigor.  I  had  not  forgotten  what  the  spirit  of  the 
American  people  is,  but  I  have  been  immensely  refreshed 
by  coming  in  contact  with  it  again.  I  did  not  know  how 
good  home  felt  until  I  got  here. 

The  only  place  a  man  can  feel  at  home  is  where  noth¬ 
ing  has  to  be  explained  to  him.  Nothing  has  to  be  ex¬ 
plained  to  me  in  America,  least  of  all  the  sentiment  of  the 
American  people.  I  mean  about  great  fundamental  things 
like  this.  There  are  many  differences  of  judgment  as  to 
policy — and  perfectly  legitimate — sometimes  profound  dif¬ 
ferences  of  judgment;  but  those  are  not  differences  of  sen¬ 
timent,  those  are  not  differences  of  purpose,  those  are  not 
differences  of  ideals.  And  the  advantage  of  not  having  to 
have  anything  explained  to  you  is  that  you  recognize  a 
wrong  explanation  when  you  hear  it. 

In  a  certain  rather  abandoned  part  of  the  frontier  at  one 
time  it  was  said  they  found  a  man  who  told  the  truth;  he 
was  not  found  telling  it,  but  he  could  tell  it  when  he  heard 
it.  And  I  think  I  am  in  that  situation  with  regard  to  some 
of  the  criticisms  I  have  heard.  They  do  not  make  any 
impression  on  me,  because  I  know  there  is  no  medium  that 
will  transmit  them,  that  the  sentiment  of  the  country  is 
proof  against  such  narrowness  and  such  selfishness  as  that. 
I  commend  these  gentlemen  to  communion  with  their  fellow- 
citizens. 

CONFIDENT  OF  THE  FUTURE 

What  are  we  to  say,  then,  as  to  the  future?  I  think,  my 
fellow  citizens,  that  we  can  look  forward  to  it  with  great 
confidence.  I  have  heard  cheering  news  since  I  came  to 
this  side  of  the  water  about  the  progress  that  is  being 
made  in  Paris  toward  the  discussion  and  clarification  of  a 
great  many  difficult  matters  and  I  believe  that  settlements 
will  begin  to  be  made  rather  rapidly  from  this  time  on  at 
those  conferences.  But  what  I  believe,  what  I  know  as 
well  as  believe,  is  this:  That  the  men  engaged  in  those  con¬ 
ferences  are  gathering  heart  as  they  go,  not  losing  it;  that 


i 


14 


THE  WORLD 

they  are  finding  community  of  purpose  and  community  of 
ideal  to  an  extent  that  perhaps  they  did  not  expect;  and 
that  amidst  all  the  inter-play  of  influence — because  it  is  in¬ 
finitely  complicated — amidst  all  the  inter-play  of  influence, 
there  is  a  forward  movement  which  is  running  toward  the 
right.  Men  have  at  last  perceived  that  the  only  permanent 
thing  in  the  world  is  the  right,  and  that  a  wrong  settlement 
is  bound  to  be  a  temporary  settlement — bound  to  be  a  tem¬ 
porary  settlement  for  the  very  best  reason  of  all,  that  it 
ought  to  be  a  temporary  settlement,  and  the  spirits  of  men 
will  rebel  against  it,  and  the  spirits  of  men  are  now  in  the 
saddle. 

When  I  was  in  Italy  a  little  limping  group  of  wounded 
Italian  soldiers  sought  an  interview  with  me.  I  could  not 
conjecture  what  it  was  they  were  going  to  say  to  me,  and 
with  the  greatest  simplicity,  with  a  touching  simplicity, 
they  presented  me  with  a  petition  in  favor  of  the  League 
of  Nations.  Their  wounded  limbs,  their  impaired  vitality 
were  the  only  argument  they  brought  with  them.  It  was  a 
simple  request  that  I  lend  all  the  influence  that  I  might 
happen  to  have  to  relieve  future  generations  of  the  sacri¬ 
fices  that  they  had  been  obliged  to  make.  That  appeal  has 
remained  in  my  mind  as  I  have  ridden  along  the  streets  in 
European  capitals  and  heard  cries  of  the  crowd,  cries  for 


’  S  WELFARE 

the  League  of  Nations,  from  lips  of  people  who,  I  venture 
to  say,  had  no  particular  notion  of  how  it  was  to  be  done, 
who  were  not  ready  to  propose  a  plan  for  a  League  of  Na¬ 
tions,  but  whose  hearts  said  that  something  by  way  of  a 
combination  of  all  men  everywhere  must  come  out  of  this. 
As  we  drove  along  country  roads  weak  old  women  would 
come  out  and  hold  flowers  up  to  us.  Why  should  they  hold 
flowers  up  to  strangers  from  across  the  Atlantic?  Only  be¬ 
cause  they  believed  that  we  were  the  messengers  of  friend¬ 
ship  and  of  hope,  and  these  flowers  were  their  humble  offer¬ 
ings  of  gratitude  that  friends  from  so  great  a  distance 
should  have  brought  them  so  great  a  hope. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  we  should  disappoint  them,  and 
we  shall  not.  The  day  will  come  when  men  in  America  will 
look  back  with  swelling  hearts  and  rising  pride  that  they 
should  have  been  privileged  to  make  the  sacrifice  which  it 
was  necessary  to  make  in  order  to  combine  their  might  and 
their  moral  power  with  the  cause  of  justice  for  men  of 
every  kind  everywhere. 

God  give  us  the  strength  and  vision  to  do  it  wisely! 
God  give  us  the  privilege  of  knowing  that  we  did  it  without 
counting  the  cost  and  because  we  were  true  Americans, 
lovers  of  liberty  and  of  the  right! 


/ 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


15 


The  World’s  Welfare  Magazine 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY  THE  GENERAL  WELFARE  LEAGUE 
1270  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 


Date, 

General  Welfare  League 

1270  Broadway,  New  Y ork- 

Inclosed  please  find _ 


191 


Check,  P ■  O.  or  Express  Money  Order 

for  One  Dollar  [ $1.00 ]  in  payment  of  one  year’s  subscription  to  The 

World’s  Welfare  Magazine,  beginning _ 191 

and  ending _ 19  ,  to  be  sent  to  the 

address  below.  In  the  event  that  the  address  has  to  be  changed,  I  will  so 
notify  you,  sending  the  old  address  together  with  the  new  one  desired. 


Signature - 

Street  or  buildings 
City - 


State. 


THE  WORLD’S  WELFARE 


TEN  CENTS  A  COPY.  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 


The  World’s  Welfare 


A  NEW  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE 


EDITED  BY  STANLEY  W.  FINCH. 


Organizer  and  for  yean 

Chief  of  the  Secret  Service  of  the  Department  of  Justice 

^  also  subsequently 

U.  S.  Special  Commissioner  for  the  Suppression  of  the 

White  Slave  Traffic 


Mr.  Finch  is  particularly  well  fitted  for  this 
editorial  work  because  of  his  vast  experience  as  a 
Government  official,  economic  investigator,  lawyer, 
manufacturer,  sociologist,  and  author,  and  his  many 
years  of  careful  study  of  social,  industrial,  and  public 
welfare  work. 

The  purpose  of  this  magazine  is  to  place  before 
the  public  interesting,  worth-while  facts,  and  timely, 
wholesome,  thought-provoking  ideas  which  will  tend 
to  promote  the  health,  happiness,  and  welfare  of 
humanity. 


